Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on April 10 2012
Beowulf
Beowulf rap
A recitation of part of the poem in Old English or your version of Old English
Comparisons between The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings and Beowulf
Movie and Epic—pros and cons
Beowulf comic book
Beowulf painting
A heroic narrative poem in accentual, alliterative verse, with kennynges
A retelling of the story or part of it from another character’s point of view
An item of treasure
Reimagining of the story a la Beowulf movie; sequel to Beowulf movie
A Geatish funeral ceremony
Marie de France
A modern day version of Lanval—Arthur’s court as Hollywood or a fraternity/sorority at Poly or a High School
A sequel to Lanval--what happens in Avalon?
Chaucer
Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on April 19 2012The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale--not read by the class--present excerpts and summary in Middle English and Modern English and discuss relation between Prologue and Tale
Write a tale and links for one of the characters in the General Prologue
Present a skit of dramatic interaction among some of the pilgrims
Stage a pilgrimage—to sports event, rock concert, religious revival-- in which each person tells a 2.5 minute tale
A non X-rated story of adulterous cheating
A trial of the Wife of Bath for adultery
Hollywood scandal sheet about her
Retell the story of loathly lady as story of loathly man.
Put Alison the Wife of Bath into a Jerry Springer type of TV show, debating with old and young husbands
Utopia
Utopia Travel Commercial
An architectural or City Plan for utopia
A dramatization or account of a game "in which the vices fight a battle against the virtues." (p. 551)
A debate or discussion among the Utopian tranibors about whether or not to change the punishment for premarital sex or to set aside resources and personnel for the promotion of scientific research
A continuation of the argument between "More" and Hytholday
An updated version of this argument between Occupy and one of Obama's advisors
Lyrics
One poem by Shakespeare, Donne or Herbert not assigned: read, researched, explicated, debated
A series of “Replies” like Ralegh’s to poems by Donne or Wroth or Sidney or Shakespeare in Early Modern English or in contemporary English or a combination
A sonnet sequence with fictional protagonists
A pastoral song written and performed live or on film
A modern carpe diem, invitation poem
Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on May1 2012
Visual representations of Bacon's Four Idols
A debate between Francis Bacon and John Donne about the use of language
A series of epigrams about present-day Idols of the Mind
A scene from King Lear with lines memorized--original text or updated version
A photo essay about homelessness captioned with passages from the play
A trial of Goneril, partly as envisioned by Lear in his madness
A newspaper account or police report of the final scene
Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on May15 2012
A performance, live or filmed, of the seduction scenes in Book 9 of Paradise Lost
An operatic version (traditional or rock or hip hop) of a scene or scenes in Paradise Lost, for instance, the consult of the demons in Book 2 or the arguments between Adam and Eve in Book 10
A trial of Eve involving prosecution and defense
A discussion of similarities and differences between The Beggar's Opera and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera
A performance of a scene from The Beggars Opera with original or updated music
Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on May 24 2012
A present-day fantasy of travel to strange worlds and creatures that are projections of groups in our world or a look at our culture through the eyes of an alien visitor
A survey of movies or similar to or take-offs from Gulliver's Travels
A description with diagrams or movies of science-technology projects like those in Book 3, chapters 4-6
A discussion of Gulliver's Travels movies--strengths and weaknesses compared to the book
Brobdingnagian and Lilliputian dolls or statues
Some suggestions for group projects to be presented on May 31 2012
Responses to English 253 group projects on Blake--Spring 2011
Create a Song of Innocence answering a Song of Experience or vice versa
Create a movie or a musical performance of one of Blake's songs
Produce your own series of Proverbs of Hell or create a series of Proverbs of Heaven
Create an Innocence-Experience computer game